“Life in 2007 was very different in Dubai, compared to now. There used to be a lot of construction happening where I lived, and I started by taking photographs of them at night.

“It’s amazing – they come to life during the day and at night, it’s as if they are sleeping. After photographing the vehicles near my house, I started wandering off to different locations,” said the photographer who has a BFA in photography from the American University in Dubai (AUD).

Al-Turki said when he did go to various construction sites, he was mostly undisturbed except for certain times when he was kicked off the property. “One guy came up to me in the middle of the night, while I taking photos, and told me that was his crane and I couldn’t take pictures,” he added.

He said the name of the series came up while he was putting the collection together. A self-confessed hard-core fan of the series Transformers, Al-Turki said the construction vehicles reminded him of the alien robots that disguised themselves as a variety of vehicles.

The exhibition opened on June 19, 2011 and Al-Turki said he was happy with the response: “The opening was very good. I was really surprised at the turn out; I thought no one was going to show up but they did.”

The free exhibition will run till July 20, 2011, from 10am to midnight, at the Pavilion Downtown Dubai.